>> harry reid and dick durbin said forget it. social security is not a part of this conversation. and yet the president has shown a willingness to do that. what happens if he publicly -- and republicans right now, their frustration is that the president will say that behind the scenes but he won't public ly talk about it as much as they want him to talk about it publicly. what happens politically on the left? >> i think there's some people on the left who would not appreciate having social security and medicare as part of this, as part of this discussion. if we're in the talking phase, it doesn't hurt to talk about things that each side should put on the table. brad is right that the republicans have come a little bit with taxes. >> the discussion is not about should taxes go up. the discussion is how do you do it? >> exactly. and, listen, i think that to the extent we are just talking right now, i don't think that talking hurts. but should this become -- should this come in play, little there will be a lot of people on the left who will not be very happy. i think in some ways it